Update No 2 - Friday 5 April 2019

Try not to not blink; you may miss it! Our school is growing!The visible progress with our physical build is moving rapidly! Here is the latest action:

Our Place 
Building Update 

Phase 1

• preparation for external works to ready our outdoor Natural Amphitheatre/courtyard ready for asphalt
• Polishing some concrete floors
• Delivery of Internal doors and windows
• Delivery of the internal joinery

Phase 2

• Crane arrival
• Gymnasium structural steel

Our People

Teachers - Professional Learning Update
Our teachers meet weekly on  Wednesday morning from 7:30 am - 8:30am  for Professional Learning based on teaching and learning. They also meet together as a team to plan and respond specifically to learning and social and emotional needs of their students. We are a collaborative team of teachers who support each other in our own learning journey. ALL teachers and staff are learners here at Grey Lynn School!
Our recent focus has been about co-teaching models. We learn, research, action, reflect and refine. Sharing this process as a team, finding solutions and celebrating is something we value about learning together.
Early next term we will provide parent meeting opportunities to share these models in more detail with you; however, a summary is listed below.

There is a toolbox of different co-teaching models we will be utilising, dependent on the type of learning outcome required and what opportunities the learners need at the time.

With a larger group, co-teaching may look like:

• One teach; one observes

• One teach; one drift

• One teach; one support

• Team Teaching

With a smaller group, co-teaching may look like:

• Station teaching

• Targeted teaching

• Parallel teaching

• Alternative teaching

Getting to know our GLS people:

Stacey Kavanaugh Room 5 Year 1/2
What do you love about Grey Lynn School?
The PRIDE values, and the sense of community
What makes you smile?When I see random acts of kindness.
What do you love to do with your time when you are not at school?Spending time with my family and friends. Reading and cooking.

Alysha Moore Room 21 Year 3/4
What do you love about Grey Lynn School?
The children and the community. I have felt an overwhelming sense of belonging and support from the community and the students since joining the Grey Lynn family this year.
What makes you smile?
Laughter and good food.
What do you love to do with your time when you are not at school?
I love spending time with my friends, driving, and finding a good bargain!

Donna Haslem Room 13 Year 3/4
What do you love about Grey Lynn School?
I love that the students at Grey Lynn School are respectful, curious and love to learn.
What makes you smile?
My grand-daughter's cheeky smile.
What do you love to do with your time when you are not at school?
Exploring - mountain and trail cycling. Hiking and swimming at the west coast beaches.

Bronwyn Hackett - Administration
What do you love about Grey Lynn School?
Being a part of a place that's inclusive and caring.
What makes you smile?
Our students who always have something interesting and positive to tell me! Usually quite funny too.
What do you love to do with your time when you are not at school?
Getting out and about with the family and dog. Going on walks or bike rides exploring Auckland and the rest of the country. 

When is our transition into our building stage 1?

As many of us know from personal home renovation experience, dates can change and new things can come to light but the information below is the most current we have. When new information is available we will let you know as soon we can.

We are expecting practical completion of the construction early in Term 2. Once completed there are several important steps the school will work through before we transition into the new facilities.

These are:
1) Health and Safety sign off and Council sign off to ensure our facilities are fit for purpose and that our tamariki and staff will be safe.
2) Fit-out of the rooms including setting up the new learning spaces.
 3) The smooth and planned transition of our teachers and students into the new spaces 

As several of these are outside the school's control, at this stage we are unable to give a specific date in Term 2 in which our tamariki will move in, but we will keep you updated as we move closer to the transition date.

When the timeframes allow, we will look to open the new learning environments to you, our community, so you have the opportunity to see first hand the new spaces. We will be in touch about this once we have clearer dates.

As always, please pop in and talk to us with any questions and concerns you may have about the move to the new learning spaces and the new building itself.

Thanks also, to those who completed our survey about the learning spaces, we received some very useful data from 65 respondents which we will be using as the basis for thinking about the different ways of engaging with our families about our learning and our spaces.

Nga mihi

Alicia Whata, Otalani Kiata, Toni Jarmin
Your Senior Leadership Team